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Wishing him all the best for a quick recovery

and excellent customer service too!

Just thought I would try again in the hope that someone may know this now

When you have a small child who says they want to dance I'm not sure that doing research is at the top of the list of things to do. Probably more important at that time is looking for a class that fits in with your life i.e days, times and cost. Probably for a recreational dancer who's happy to do a class on a Saturday and nothing more that's ok. It's only when dance starts to become the be all and end all of the childs life that everything else becomes so important. Had I done any research I probably wouldn't have chosen the school I chose. I think I may have looked for a RAD teacher as it seems so many extra curricular opportunites are available for RAD students but I sat with the telephone directory and never considered anything other than the reaction I got when speaking to the teacher. It was only 2/3 years later when DS was showing potential and started to eat and breath dance that I started to try and find out a bit more. I suspect most of our children start off the same way. When you first take your young child to class you probably never imagine for a moment where it might lead.

I see on RSC's website that you can start the BA in Modern Ballet at 16, it just made me wonder about funding. Can you get a student loan for this at 16 as you would starting any degree at 18?

Oh my goodness if you had to see me in a leotard you would regret wanting it to be compulsory lol

DS's answer to this one - because I just have to.......

I think this is key. From my experience there was lots of telling DS that he needed to exercise but no time spent explaining what he actually needed to do or what to work on either in general terms or specifically for him. It would have extremely useful to have had specific goals to work towards

Does anyone have the dates for next term please?

DS was entered for 1500m, javelin, long jump and triple jump, came 2nd in 1500m and first in everything else, Teacher just shrugged and said, well I knew you'd be good because of all your dancing

when the voicemail message of a 14 year old boy is changed to " sorry I missed your call I'm probably dancing or doing some other sporting activity"

I often get asked to help out with hair on exam days and the ribbon has always gone underneath. Good luck

Is anyone going to see the Regional Youth Ballet in Derby at the end of July? I've just bought my ticket, looking forward to it already.

It would have been soooo much easier if they had said which year groups had spaces - possibly it's all though. If you apply and don't get an audition do you get your money back???

I believe they are held at Dance Xchange, Thorp Street, which is a 5/10 mins walk from the train station, right in the centre of Birmingham

Whereabouts please?

David, we need to all get together to do an order and save on shipping!!

Everything crossed for her

How important are the funding options for the courses? Are you asking about a degree course because of the studuent loan element? Ballet West is, I think, an HND course, can you apply for a studuent loan for an HND?

DS did MIDAS last year and I highly recommend it

I agree with this but one of the big elements of 'luck' is money. Unfortuntely everthing seems to come back to it. No amount of parental support and encouragement will pay for summer schools, associate schemes, travel costs etc etc. Children who may appear to have a strong natural talent may not therefore have the opportunity to 'get out there ' and be seen in order to find a teacher/mentor/coach who can take them further. Support from the local dance teacher is great - free/subsidised classes are fab - but where does the money come from for new leotards,ballet shoes etc when your child qualifies for free school meals? What happens if there is no money for auditions or you get offered a very generous scholarship/bursary for vocational school but nothing less than 100% is any good? Can the amount of drive, comittiment, determination, dedication or "fire in the belly" get you anywhere near where you want to be when you can't afford the bus fare? Should you even let your child dream of something that you can never hope to help them towards? Is it enough to say that you have to try as somethiing may just happen or does years of saying I'm sorry you can't do that/go there theres no money take its toll?

Received exam results last night from 13th March, taken at local ballet school.

Brilliant idea but definitely 14 years or maybe just say from year 9 for thoise wanting to audition for year 10???

What age do boys generally start to prepare for partnering work? Is it a long steady process that you work slowly up to? Do boys generally do upper body work, conditioning etc to prepare for it? Thanks Jill

15 at Hammond I believe